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Visual InterDev

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You might want to work on your Web application in isolation without changing your master Web application or being affected by changes to the master Web files made by other Web developers.

In Microsoft Visual InterDev, you can use local mode to make changes to a Web page and then test how your page works in the context of several other pages without impacting the master file or other developers. If your master Web server is your production server, any changes you make to the local Web files will not affect your Web visitors. You can open multiple files, make changes, test them as a local Web application, and then release your local copies to update the master Web application. Other developers or your visitors see the changes only after the files have been released.

You can use the following major steps to work locally and to identify other tasks you might want to do. Detailed procedures for each major step are provided in related topics.

To work locally

  1. Open or create a project for the Web application. For more information, see Creating a Web Project.

  2. Make sure your project is set for local mode. For more information about selecting a mode, see Specifying a Project Mode.

  3. Make sure you have a local copy of the files you want to work on. For more information about getting the latest version or a local copy of a file, see Getting Master Copies Locally.

  4. Open the files, edit the files, and save your changes. Since your project is in local mode, the changes are saved to your local Web application only; the master Web application does not change. For more information, see the procedures for editing and saving your changes in Web Basics.

  5. If you have moved files or manually added links, you can do a quick visual check of the links using Link View. For more information about using Link View, see Link Verification.

  6. Preview the working version of the Web application in the Web browser. If you don't have a Web server on your developer workstation, the file is loaded with a file URL and server-script won't work. If you do have a local Web server, your .asp files use the local Web server to process the server script. A virtual root is automatically created and the page is loaded into the Web browser. For more information about previewing, see Previewing Pages.

  7. Update the master Web application. When you are satisfied with your working versions, you can release your local copy to update the master Web application. For more information, see Updating the Master Web Application.